Balance of China's yuan loans up in July

BEIJING - The balance of China's yuan-denominated loans increased by 679 billion yuan ($100.7 billion) in July, central bank data showed Friday.

The figure decreased by 404.2 billion yuan from the same period last year, according to the People's Bank of China.

The M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased 12 percent year-on-year to 257.81 trillion yuan at the end of last month.

The growth rate was 0.6 percentage points higher than the figure seen at the end of June, and was 3.7 percentage points higher than that during the same period last year.

The M1, which covers cash in circulation plus demand deposits, stood at 66.18 trillion yuan at the end of July. It was up by 6.7 percent year-on-year.

The M0, the amount of cash in circulation, went up by 13.9 percent from a year ago to 9.65 trillion yuan at the end of last month.